00                      SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 12                                                                    
01 Urging the United States Congress to repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision and                                      
02 Government Pension Offset of the Social Security Act.                                                                   
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
04       WHEREAS public employees, while employed by the State of Alaska or a political                                  
05 subdivision of the state that participates in the Public Employees' Retirement System of                                
06 Alaska, are ineligible by law to earn Social Security credits; and                                                      
07       WHEREAS teachers, while employed by a school district that participates in the                                  
08 Teachers' Retirement System of Alaska, are ineligible by law to earn Social Security credits;                           
09 and                                                                                                                     
10 WHEREAS provisions of the Social Security Act known as the Windfall Elimination                                       
11 Provision and the Government Pension Offset reduce the amount of social security benefits                               
12 public employees and teachers might otherwise receive if they qualify for Social Security                               
13 benefits; and                                                                                                           
14       WHEREAS the Windfall Elimination Provision substantially reduces Social Security                                
15 benefits earned by public employees and teachers; and                                                                   
16       WHEREAS, in 2021, a Social Security benefit reduction by the Windfall Elimination                               

01 Provision may be as much as $498 a month for each recipient; and                                                        
02       WHEREAS the Government Pension Offset reduces Social Security spousal and                                       
03 survivor benefits for recipients of Social Security spousal or survivor benefits who also                               
04 receive a benefit from a public employees' or teachers' retirement system; and                                          
05 WHEREAS the Government Pension Offset may reduce the Social Security monthly                                          
06 benefit payment, for a current or former public employee or teacher who is eligible to receive                          
07 a benefit, by an amount equal to two-thirds of the amount the public employee or teacher                                
08 receives from a public employees' or teachers' retirement system each month; and                                        
09       WHEREAS nothing in the relationship between the Public Employees' Retirement                                    
10 System of Alaska, the Teachers' Retirement System of Alaska, or similar public employees' or                            
11 teachers' retirement systems, and Social Security legally or financially justifies a policy of                          
12 reducing the amount of Social Security benefits earned by public employees or teachers for                              
13 military service, including civilian military service, or time worked in the private sector; and                        
14 WHEREAS the lowest-earning public employees and teachers are disproportionately                                       
15 and negatively affected by the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension                                
16 Offset; and                                                                                                             
17 WHEREAS public employees and teachers who reside in the state are                                                     
18 disproportionately and more negatively affected, per capita, by the Windfall Elimination                                
19 Provision and the Government Pension Offset, than public employees and teachers who reside                              
20 in any other state or territory in the United States; and                                                               
21 WHEREAS persons who are eligible to earn Social Security credits for work in the                                      
22 private sector or in active or civilian military service are deterred from becoming public                              
23 employees or teachers by the negative effects of the Windfall Elimination Provision and the                             
24 Government Pension Offset; and                                                                                          
25 WHEREAS the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset                                          
26 impair the ability of state and local governments to recruit and retain public school teachers,                         
27 police officers, firefighters, and other public employees; and                                                          
28 WHEREAS bipartisan legislation has been introduced in the 117th United States                                         
29 Congress to address the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset;                                   
30 BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of the State of Alaska urges the United States                                    
31 Congress to pass legislation eliminating the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government                              

01 Pension Offset.                                                                                                         
02 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, President                                   
03 of the United States; the Honorable Kamala D. Harris, Vice President of the United States and                           
04 President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Xavier Becerra, United States Secretary of Health                           
05 and Human Services; the Honorable Miguel Cardona, United States Secretary of Education;                                 
06 the Honorable Andrew Saul, Commissioner of the Social Security Administration; and the                                  
07 Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable Dan Sullivan, U.S. Senators, and the                                         
08 Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.